Seize The Day
by Haitus80
Summary: My entry for a writing exercise that Elle Gardner was kind enough to tell me about. It's all Caryl, like everything else I write so if that isn't your thing then run along! Rated M for language only. Sorry ladies!


**_This is part of a community writing exercise where we wrote about a Reedus character and his "One True Love". If you'd like to read other stories from this series... This is part of the community "One True Love" /community/Reedus-s-One-True-Love-Challenge/112219/3/0/1/ _You will need to change the rating to "M"_ on the community page to see all the selections. Some of us are pretty naughty!_**

**I usually don't submit stories to these writing exercises but this idea just smacked me in the face when my brother sent me a text asking if I was going to write anything. As soon as we started talking about it this idea popped into my head. Forty minutes later this one shot was born. Thank you halohunter89 ;) It's pretty clean as far as my stories go but it's sweet so hopefully you will enjoy =) Thanks, as always, for reading!**

**Seize the Day **

He wasn't sure why he had done it. Well, that was a lie. He knew damn well why he had done it. It all started a couple of months ago while he was checking up on her. He did that every now and then. Well, that was a lie too. He did that every night. Had been doing it every damn night for a long time. He couldn't sleep unless he knew she was okay. He couldn't concentrate unless it was a known fact that she was there in her cell. Breathing. Alive.

She had caught him that night, which had surprised him because she was rarely awake at that hour. But she had been and she had asked if he could stay for a few minutes.

_"Why ain't you sleepin' like everybody else?" He asked quietly as he sat down on the stool across from her bunk. _

_She looked up at him from under her lashes, a small smile on her lips that didn't reach her eyes. "Bad dream," she murmured._

_His heart ached a little for her then. He had been sure she had dreamed of her little girl. It wouldn't have been the first time. "Sophia?" He asked, unable to keep himself from voicing the question._

_She shook her head and lifted her chin. "Ed," she said with a shrug. _

_He had tried to ignore the anger that slashed a jagged red line through his mind but he wasn't able too. And, of course, she read him like a book._

_"Isn't it strange?" She asked vaguely as she turned her head and looked towards her closed cell door._

_"What?" He asked, honestly curious. They didn't get many moments like this, with just the two of them._

_She smiled again but this one was bitter. "It's strange how a person can pretend so completely. Did you know that Ed proposed to me on Valentines day?" A bitter laugh escaped her. "Romantic, right? I was such a star struck fool back then. Definitely nothing like I am now."_

_He didn't say anything. He didn't think she needed him too. _

_She sighed. "In a few months it will be the anniversary of the day that I threw away every dream I had ever had. And here I sit, at the end of the world, sulking about it to a poor man that couldn't possibly care less about how stupid I was as a younger woman," she met his eyes and gave him a real smile then. "You're sweet, Daryl."_

_"Shut up," he grumbled but he couldn't stop the corner of his mouth from lifting up, just so she'd know he didn't really mean it. _

_"Is it strange that I absolutely loath Valentines day now?" She asked as she stood up._

_He shrugged. "It's kinda sad. Ain't that the time of year all you females start gittin' all mushy and shit?"_

_She reached for his hand and pulled him up. "I haven't gotten a gift for that dreadful day since the night that man gave me that cheap ring. It's just another day. I don't do mushy." She met his eyes as she led him to the door. "But thanks for listening."_

_He shrugged, wanting to prolong the moment because her hand was still in his and it felt good. Right._

_"Night, Pookie," she winked and then let his hand go. _

_He snorted and shot her an exasperated look that earned him a light chuckle. He slipped out, unable to forget about that depressing little piece of her history. _

He hadn't been able to shake it. It wasn't fair that someone like her couldn't enjoy a day that most women looked forward too all year long. Well, maybe not so much anymore, but it didn't matter. She had lost so much and still worked every day to make others lives better. She was selfless and kind and strong and...

"Fuck," he grumbled as he held up his thumb. A small bead of blood oozed out of another cut. He needed to stop getting so distracted. This should have been done already but he was always so busy that he hadn't been able to get the project done any sooner than now. The very same damn day that he was suppose to give it to her. Valentines day.

Jesus, if Merle could see him now. He shook his head and smiled fondly as he imagined all sorts of degrading names his brother would call him.

After she told him about how much she hated this particular date, the very next day he had set out, determined to find her something, anything, that would change her mind. He had left the safety of the prison in search of some sort of gift he could stash away for her. What he had came back with, however, was a chunk of wood about as big as his fist.

He'd nearly tripped over the damn thing and it had hit him then. He knew right away what to do for her. Another woman would have laughed at his idea but not her. This would mean something to her. So he grabbed the chunk of wood and happily made his way back to the prison. He had used all sorts of different instruments to work with, dredging up an almost forgotten skill that he had learned from his grandad when he had been just a small boy.

And now it was almost done. He sucked the drip of blood from his thumb and squinted down at his work, biting his tongue in concentration. Just a few more strokes of the thin razor blade and he would finally be able to sand it down and smooth out the spots that needed smoothing. Once he had started carving he had found that the wood inside was a creamy shade of white, it had been perfect.

_Two hours later..._

"You got a minute?" Daryl asked as he followed Carol around the outdoor kitchen area. It didn't matter that it was freezing outside. There was more room out here to work and the walls of the surrounding buildings blocked out most of the wind.

"I'm busy, Daryl. I have a lot to get done," she said without looking up.

She was in a bad mood. He should have known she would be. She hated today but if she would just take five minutes he was sure that he could make it at least a little better. He always had trouble finding the right words to say to her, clamming up all the time, so he couldn't just blurt anything out.

"Well, when do ya think you'll stop bein' busy?" He asked as he followed her again. He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, that several people from Woodbury were watching him curiously. It wasn't like him to chase people down unless it was important. One would think Carol would get the goddamn hint since she knew him better than anyone else did.

"Tomorrow," she deadpanned.

God, she was a shithead. "I kinda need to talk to you sooner than that."

She laid out six bowls and started dipping out some stew. "Then talk, Daryl. We're both right here," she said absently as she handed two of the bowls to one of the other women.

He scowled. "I don't wanna talk here, goddamn it," he growled.

She looked at him and scowled right back. "Well maybe today isn't going to be one of those days that you can just growl at me and get your way."

He clenched his jaw tightly. "Beth!" He yelled, never taking his eyes off of Carol's. He couldn't remember ever seeing her in a mood this bad.

"Yeah?" Beth asked breathlessly as she approached them.

He spared the kid a long enough look to determine that she wasn't holding the baby and then he met Carol's eyes again. "Make yourself useful and finish up here. Carol's got somethin' to do. For the rest of the night."

"Sure," Beth shrugged and took over in front of the pot of food as Daryl grabbed Carol's hand and started to lead her towards the prison.

"Daryl, what are you doing?" She asked in a low voice. She still sounded angry but there was enough curiosity in her question to insure she wasn't going to jerk away and run back to her station.

"If you'd stop with all your damn crab assin' then I'd show you." He felt the eyes of the others on him but he didn't even care at the moment. He'd be embarrassed about all of that later.

She hurried her steps so he wasn't really dragging her anymore. "You couldn't have waited until after dinner?" She asked.

He shook his head and kept tugging her along until they were almost to the room where they held their council meetings.

"You're acting strange," she noted as he opened the door and nearly pushed her inside.

The damn woman was impossible. He was having enough of a hard time trying to gather up the nerve to do something like this in the first place and she had to go and be all pissy. He couldn't really blame her though. She had told him that this was a day that she despised. He still felt sick to his stomach once he really started thinking about what he was doing. He was really bad at this kind of thing. He wished he could just go kill something for her. That kind of shit was easy.

"Daryl, what is so important that you had to drag me all the way in here?"

He shut the door and took a long breath, not letting go of her hand even when hers went slack. She frowned and then looked up at him as her hand tightened back up in his.

"Are you okay?" She asked worriedly.

He nodded. "I...er... I remembered what you said that night in your cell," he stammered like an idiot. He felt his face flush. "About today," he clarified when she still looked at him in confusion.

She frowned and looked down. "You didn't have to drag me all the way in here to talk about that, Daryl. I'm fine. It's just another stupid day and I..."

"You mean a lot to me. Us I mean. The group," he said, cutting her off.

She smiled sadly. "I know that," she said in a voice that held no doubts.

He shouldn't have added that last part. He was fucking this all up. Why in the hell would he have thought for a minute that he could do this? This wasn't something he could do. Not right, anyway. He was going to stammer and stutter until she patted his cheek like he was some sort of dim witted child and walk away.

"I mean to me. You mean a lot to me and I wanted ya to know that," he forced the words out, knowing they needed to be said.

She smiled that smile._ His_ smile. "I know that too. We've been through a lot."

He shook his head. "It ain't just that," he growled and then dropped her hand. "This shit is hard." he grumbled as he walked towards one of the bookshelves. He snatched the wooden carving off of the shelf and tried to start over. "I care about you. I don't want you feelin' all down and shit. Not over some asshole that didn't deserve to breathe the same air as you," he said quickly as he picked up her wrist and held her hand up so he could place the wooden object on her palm.

She frowned in confusion until she looked at it. "It's my rose," she said wonderingly. She touched one of the petals delicately, like it was made of fine crystal instead of an old hunk of wood. "Where in the world did you find this?"

He felt the blood rush up into his face as he blushed furiously. "Made it," he muttered.

She looked up, those blue eyes that haunted most of his thoughts growing wide. "You made this for me?" Her eyes grew wet as she looked back down. "How? Daryl, this is amazing." She ran her fingers over it again. "And I don't have to keep this one smashed between the pages of a book."

He honestly had no idea she had kept the other one.

She tilted her head and smiled but he couldn't see her eyes anymore. "You didn't have to do this just to make me feel better, you know. But I do love it. I can't think of a more perfect gift. I can't believe you'd do this just to cheer me up."

Damn it! She still didn't understand what he was trying to do. Sure, he had done it to make her happy but he had also done it so maybe she would understand that he was out of his fucking mind in love with her. In love enough to make an ass of himself in front of everyone out there just to drag her in here to make an even bigger ass of himself in front of her.

"I didn't do it to just to cheer you up," he grumbled.

She looked up at him then, her eyes shining and a small frown forming between her eyebrows. She opened her mouth to say something just as he placed a hand on her cheek. He didn't give himself any more time to think about it. He ducked his head and kissed her before he could chicken out.

She made a surprised sound in the back of her throat but then brought her free hand up to his neck, holding him there. She tasted sweet and he deepened the kiss without a second thought. It was like he always knew it would be. Perfect. Like she was made for him and him alone.

When he finally pulled away she blinked, like she was dazed.

"This day ain't his no more, alright?"

She nodded and studied his face.

"It's mine," he said firmly.

She nodded again as her fingers ghosted over the flower in her hand.

"And so are you," he said in a much softer voice.

"I have been for a long time, Daryl. The only person that didn't know that was you." She smiled.

He grinned. It was such a rare grin that it made his face feel weird. "Nah, I knew."

"So what now?" She asked, almost shyly.

He took a deep breath and pointed to the far corner of the room where he had set up a makeshift bed. "You got the night off. I'm tryin' like hell to be romantic for ya. Figured I'd finally take ya up on that offer."

She laughed against his lips as he backed her towards the bed. "Bout time you finally decided you wanted to screw around."


End file.
